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State to try Cara Rintala a third time in strangling of wife Annamarie Cochrane Rintala

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02.11.2014 | NORTHAMPTON -- After more than two years in jail, Cara Rintala, seen listening to Judge Mary-Lou Rup during a hearing Tuesday in Hampshire Superior Court, can finally be released on bail pending her third trial.
(Photo by Dave Roback / The Republican)

NORTHAMPTON – The commonwealth is hoping the third time will be the charm in getting a murder conviction against Cara Lee Rintala, telling the court Tuesday it intends to bring her to court again after two mistrials. In the meantime, a Hampshire County judge paved the way for the defendant to be released, setting bail for the first time.

Rintala, 47, is charged with first degree murder in the 2010 strangling of her wife, Annamarie Cochrane Rintala. According to prosecutors, Rintala went on a series of errands after killing her wife to establish an alibi. Police summoned by a 911 call arrived at the couple’s Granby home to find the defendant cradling Cochrane Rintala’s stiff, paint-spattered body in her lap. Rintala is the first woman in Massachusetts history to be charged with murdering her lawfully wedded wife.

The original trial in March 2013 ended in a hung jury, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial. The second trial concluded this month with the same result. The case hinges largely on circumstantial evidence, notably the condition of the victim’s body. State Medical Examiner Joann Richmond, testifying for the prosecution, estimated that Cochrane Rintala was killed six to eight hours before police arrived at 7:15 p.m., based on the degree of rigor mortis. Rintala told police her wife was alive when she left on her errands at 3 p.m. The defense called its own expert to rebut Richmond’s estimate.

After consulting with Cochrane Rintala’s family, Northwestern First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne told Judge Mary-Lou Rup he will seek a third trial, preferably this year. He added that he would not oppose a defense request to set bail for the defendant, who has been held without the right to bail since October of 2011.

“It’s a matter of fairness,” Gagne said.

Defense counsel David Hoose agreed to the $150,000 amount recommended by Gagne. The defense has tried several times previously to get the court to set bail for Rintala, without success. Hoose said he doubted Rintala’s family could get the money together in time for her to be released Tuesday.

Rup imposed a number of conditions requested by the commonwealth should Rintala make bail. Among these are that she not leave the state, which would prevent her from living with her parents in Rhode Island. Rup also ordered that Rintala honor the custody and visitation arrangements set by a probate court in Rhode Island regarding her adopted daughter. Hoose said the probate matter between Cochrane Rintala’s family and the defendant’s has been ongoing, but he declined to characterize it as a custody battle.

At a brief press conference following the hearing, Hoose said he is still hopeful the commonwealth will drop the case against his client after reviewing the evidence. According to Hoose, the first trial bankrupted Rintala’s family. He was appointed to represent her at taxpayers’ expense in the second trial after the court declared Rintala indigent.

Asked by Rup if she understood the conditions of her bail, Rintala responded in a barely audible voice. Hoose said she has been worn down by the two trials and her years in jail.

“I’m worn down, so I can’t imagine what she feels like,” he said.

Hoose said Rintala has a place to live in Western Massachusetts once she makes bail, but did not specify where it is. He also refuted a suggestion by a member of the victim’s family that Rintala rushed to cash in Cochrane Rintala’s $5 million life insurance policy. Hoose said his client was notified by the insurance company that she was the beneficiary and was in the process of putting the money in trust for the couple’s daughter when a federal court put the matter on hold pending the resolution of the charges against her.